A History of the Defense Intelligence Agency - Cryptocomb

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The American Revolution: The Roots of U.S. Military Intelligence Credit: U.S. Army Center of Military History Defense Intelligence Agency
Because of the British superiority in strength and mobility, good military intelligence was vital to the strategy of the American Continental Army. Perhaps the most famous military intelligence agent in the American Revolution was Paul Revere. At the outset of the Revolution, Revere and his secret intelligence network learned that the British planned to raid the towns of Lexington and Concord outside of Boston and confiscate the weapons stored there. He and others successfully warned the local militias, known as the Minutemen, who removed weapons caches and resisted the British raids. The Minutemen’s skirmish with the British in Lexington and Concord were the opening shots fired in the American Revolution. Throughout the war, General George Washington, an experienced soldier who recognized the value of good intelligence, spearheaded much of the colonists’ military intelligence effort. No centralized intelligence organization existed at the time, but Washington himself established agent networks in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, which provided him with a great deal of knowledge about British troop dispositions and movements. He also used information gathered by his agents to plan and conduct military operations throughout the Revolution. Knowlton’s Rangers, an intelligence and reconnaissance unit Washington established in 1776, provided timely and vital intelligence regarding the dispositions and strength of the British army. John Jay was another notable intelligence officer in the American Revolution. Jay played the dominant role in America’s first counterintelligence operations. He conducted hundreds of investigations, arrests, and trials involving many influential businessmen and political figures loyal to the British Crown. He also organized clandestine operatives and ran dangerous counterintelligence missions. After the war, Jay later became the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Military intelligence was of vital importance to the Continental Army during the Revolution. It helped counter the superior British strength and mobility by informing American generals about their movements while it also deceived the British into making strategic errors. After the war, Washington’s administration maintained a robust intelligence establishment, but succeeding Presidencies showed little interest in developing a full-time, centralized intelligencegathering agency. Military intelligence work continued to be done on an ad-hoc, as needed basis. (Left) Detail from Trenton, 26 December 1776, by H. Charles McBarron. (Above) Thomas Knowlton led Knowlton’s Rangers, a group of 150 volunteers who conducted reconnaissance and carried out raids against British targets. It was the nation’s first specialized military intelligence unit. Credit: DIA History Office Collection A History
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Page 3 and 4: What is Military Intelligence? Mili
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Page 9 and 10: Neither the Union nor the Confedera
Page 11 and 12: The Civil War Allen Pinkerton, left
Page 13 and 14: The United States went to war again
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Page 19 and 20: As successful as it was in World Wa
Page 21 and 22: Seeking to correct shortcomings in
Page 23 and 24: 1960s Challenge and Reorganization:
Page 25 and 26: DIA faced difficult transitional ye
Page 27 and 28: 1970s Defense Attachés Military at
Page 29 and 30: DIA came of age in the 1980s, focus
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Page 37 and 38: 1990s The Post-Cold War Challenge I
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Page 41 and 42: The 21st Century Combating Terroris
Page 43 and 44: Directors of DIA Lt Gen Joseph F. C
Page 45 and 46: Major Robert P. Perry, USA Assistan
Page 47 and 48: “Let us never forget that good in

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